Families of Head and Somerville

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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL
GENEALOGY COLLECTION

ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY

3 1833 03109 1652

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2010 with funding from

Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center

http://www.archive.org/details/familiesofheadsoOOcame

Families of /f/^

Head and Somerville

Printed Privately

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^EDEKICK WiiiiAM = Jessie, da. of Hoiible. J. Maclkan.
>rn 1854. died 1886. Treasurer of Queensland.

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The Lords of Somerville

THE origin and history of this family may
be read in detail in the " Memories of the
Somervilles," written by James, eleventh
Lord Somerville, and published in 1815 with an
introduction by Sir Walter Scott, who truly says of
the author that " his style is of such prolixity as has
seldom been equalled."

It is exceedingly difficult to follow his quaint
language and spelling through the maze of digres-
sions into which he enters. I have, however,
managed to extract from it the pedigree of the house
from its known origin down to the time of the first
baron, Thomas Lord Somerville, created Baron of
Scotland in 1396. From that time the lineage can
be seen in an old " Burke " I have in my possession
in Lowndes Square.

Sir Gualter de Somerville was one of William the
First's knights when he came over to England, and
for his services was granted large estates in Staf-
fordshire, including the Barony of Wichnour.

Sir Roger de Somerville, the fifih from Sir
Gualter, seems to have got into trouble with King
John through joining the barons in their revolt, and
temporarily had his estates forfeited in consequence.

He had a son, John, whom he placed in the
Court of Malcolm, King of Scotland, at the age of
fourteen, in 1164. Here he gradually rose from
page to the office of the King's falconer, and was
knighted. At that time a prehistoric beast — known
locally as a "worm " or " dragon "—was ravaging

3

Roxburghshire, and was the terror of the country-
side. Sir John decided to try his hand at the
*' Worm,' and watched its goings forth and returns
to its cave, until he at last determined how he would
attack it.

It always came out of its cave in the early morn,
and he settled a day in 1 174 (he being then twenty-
four years old), for his adventure. Accompanied by
a trusty servant, he armed himself with a long
spear, and affixed a wheel about a foot from the
point. To this he attached tow, dipped in some
inflammable fluid, and at a given moment, when
the beast was well away from the cave, he mounted
his horse, his servant set fire to the tow, and he
charged straight at the lieast, who opened his
mouth, and received the fiery wheel and lance down
his throat. The lance was broken by the shock,
and the worm retreated to its den, upraising the
cave in its death struggles, causing it to fall upon
it and complete its destruction.

For this deed, Somerville was granted the lands
and barony of Lintoun in 1174.

Over the parish church door he had an efligy of
himself in the act of charging the " Worm," cut in
stone, and it is there to this day, and the " Worm's
Glen " retains the memory of his deed.

The Somerville coat-of-arms bears for its crest
a dragon spouting fire, standing on a wheel.

Sir John Somerville married Elizabeth, daughter
of Sir Robert Oliphant, of Cesseford, Teviotdale,
and on the death of his father, Roger, went to
England, at the age of sixty-four, to try and recover
his father's forfeited estates, but failed to do so.

However, on the accession of Al^exander II of
Scotland in 1214, and the death of King John, he
was more fortunate, and the English estates were
restored to him in time to provide that they should

4

go to his eldest son, Robert, and that his second
son, William, should inherit the estate of Lintoun.
William may therefore be regarded as the founder
of the Scottish branch of Somerville.

Robert married in the fifteenth year of Edward
I's reign, Isabella, daughter and co-heir of Sir
Roger de Merley, a great Baron of Northumber-
land ; and the English branch of Somerville, in
addition to their own properties, thus acquired
Inncastle, Newbolte, Brideshouse, Sir Scotcur-
burgh and Edinghall in Staffordshire, while North-
umberland contributed Witune, Wingates Horsley
and Stoctu in the county of Ware.

He was succeeded by his son Roger in the
twenty-fifth year of Edward I, and who was Sheriff
of Yorkshire and Governor of the Castle of York in
Edward II's reign.

Roger was succeeded by his son Roger, the ninth
of Wichnour, and who was created a peer of Eng-
land. On his death the title and estates devolved
upon his brother. Sir Philip.

This gentleman had no son, and the English
Peerage became extinct ; but his estate went to his
two daughters, one of whom, Maude, married John
Trafford, afterwards Duke of Buckingham, and the
other married Edmund Vernon, father of Sir
Richard, who was executed by Henry IV fo
espousing the cause of Richard II.

The family, therefore, appeared to be extinct so
far as the name was concerned in England. But
there still remained the descendants of a younger
son of Roger, the third Baron of Wichnour,
who had received from his father the Barony of
Aston in Gloucestershire, and which to-day bears
the name of Aston Somerville, or Somerville Aston,
near Evesham.

It was through this branch that the English

5

Somervilles preserved their name until it reached
William Somcrville, of Eadstone, Warwickshire,
and Somerville Aston. Me was a well-known
minor poet, and author of " The Chase."

In 1730 he settled his estates upon James, the
thirteenth Lord Somerville, in consideration of
certain money grants, and died unmarried, the last
of the English Somervilles, in 1742.

In the meantime, William, second son of Sir
John Somerville (who acquired the parish and
lands of Lintoun by exterminating the " Worm " in
1 1 74), founded the .Scottish branch of the family,
and married Margaret, heiress of Newbiggin, by
whom he had a son, vSir Walter, who married Eftle,
sister of Sir David Barclay, in 1262.

Their second son, Sir John, succeeded as fourth
of Lintoun, and married Elizabeth Douglas, of
Loudoun Hall, Kinnoul, Carnwarth and Calder-
clear, and brought him the lands and town of Carn-
warth and Cowthally Castle.

Their eldest son James was killed at the battle of
Durham, 1346, so the second son. Sir Walter, fifth
of Lintoun, succeeded.

He married Janet Preston, daughter of Sir
Thomas Preston of Craig Miller, and after her
death married Gillies Herring, daughter of Sir
John Herring, who brought as her marriage por-
tion half the lands of Gilmerton, Midlothian — the
lands of Drum and Gutters being part of them.

There do not appear to have been any children
of this marriage, but there were hve children of the
marriage with Janet Preston, the eldest of whom.
Sir John, succeeded as sixth of Lintoun in 1380,
and married the daughter of Sir John Edmonstone,
who brought him the estate of Cambusnethan.

He died in 1405, and his eldest son, Thomas,
married Marv Sinclaire, sisicr of Sir William
\ - 6

Sinclaire, Earl of Orkney and Laird of Roslayon.

Sir Thomas Somerville was the twelfth from Sir
Gualter de Somerville, the seventh of Lintoun, the
fourth of Carnvvarth, the second of Cambusnethan
and the first Lord Somerville, being summoned to
Parliament under the title of a Lord of Parliament
by King James the First of Scotland in the first
Parliament of his reign.

He was one of the Ambassadors sent to England
in 1422 to treat for the ransom of that King.

He is also named among the Wardens of the
Border in 1424.

The Family of Head

THE family of Head is of remote antiquity
in Kent, and, like many English surnames,
derives its origin from the place vviiere the
family lived. In this instance, the spelling of the
name was formerly De Hethe, signifying that the
family originated in the famous Cinque Port of
Hythe, which at that time was spelt Hethe. From De
Hethe it was an easy transition to De Hede, as it
appeared in the 14th century, and the subsequent
dropping of the prefix " de " left Hede to be trans-
formed into Head by the end of the 15th century.
A second survival of the original form of the name
may be found in the Kentish family of D'aeth,
which is presumably a branch of the original stock
of De Hethe.

In 1609 there was born, as second son of Richard
Head, Esq., of Raynham, Kent, Richard, upon
whom a baronetcy was conferred by Charles II,
June 19, 1676.

Sir Richard Head married twice, and in both
cases he married an heiress.

His iirst wife was Elizabeth, daughter and co-
heiress of Francis Merrick, of Rochester, by which
marriage he acquired a considerable part of
Rochester. Sir Richard also owned a fleet of
merchant vessels, which was probably derived
from the same source.

He married, secondly, Elizabeth Whittey, of
Wrotham, Kent, who also brought him consider-
able property.

8

He was Mayor of Rochester, and sat for that
borough in three Parliaments, including the Long
Parliament. His signature is to be seen con-
stantly recurring in the Municipal Records cf
Rochester.

Sir Richard built a country residence about five
miles out of Rochester, near Gads Hill, which he
named "The Hermitage." This residence is in
existence to-day, with Sir Richard Head's coat-of-
arms in the ceiling. The grounds are laid out in
the Italian fashion of the day. The estate at that
time embraced some 5,000 acres.

The memory of Sir Richard Head is still kept
alive by an annual dole of bread to the poor people
of Rochester, under his will. He presented a fine
house close to the river-side at Rochester to the
Church of England for the purpose of providing a
residence for the Bishop of Rochester. This
residence has since been sold by the Church of
England, and the purpose of Sir Richard Head's
gift thereby defeated.

In the side chapel of Rochester Cathedral may
be seen the effigy of Sir Richard Head over his
tomb, where also many other of his descendants
are buried, in company with Charles Dickens,
General Gordon, and other celebrities. General
Gordon was a friend of my grandfather, and
presented him with one of the Yellow Jackets
which had been bestowed upon him by the Em-
peror of Ciiina for his services to that Empire.
Before handing the Jacket to my grandfather,
Gordon cut off one of the buttons, thereby depriv-
ing the possessor of any rank attached to the
ownership of the Jacket.

Sir Richard Head was a strong supporter of the

Stuarts, and when James II had to fly the country.

Sir Richard received and concealed him in his

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house at Rochester until he was able to send him
out of the country in one of Sir Richard's own
ships. James II presented him with an emerald
ring in token of gratitude, which passed down the
line of succeeding Head baronets until it reached
Frances, only daughter and heiress of Francis
Head, of St. Andrew's Hall, Norfolk, the grandson
of the 4th Baronet, and the elder brother of James
Roper Head, of "The Hermitage," Kent.

This Miss Frances Head married, in 1806, the
Hon. and Rev. George Herbert, fourth son of the
first Earl of Carnarvon, and left an only daughter,
Agnes Katinka Herbert — born 1S20 — whose resi-
dence in 1913 is given in Debrett as 135 Avenue
Victor Hugo, Paris. It is in this lady's possession
that the ring is supposed to be.

vSir Richard Head's eldest son, Francis, a
barrister-at-law, married Sarah, only daughter of
Sir George Ent.

By his first marriage Sir Richard left a second
son, Henry, who died without children ; and a
third son, Merrick, D.D., whose daughter, Eliza-
beth, married Theophilus del' Angle, Esq. He
also left a daughter, Elizabeth, married to Sir
Richard Faunce, Knight.

vSir Richard Head had by his second wife a son,
John, a merchant of London, who married Anne,
daughter and co-heir of John Dawes, Esq., of
London. John Head died in 1687, and it was
through his descendants that, when Sir Richard's
baronetcy — the original creation — became extinct,
the North Carolina branch of the family claimed
and were granted the baronetcy.

Sir Richard I lead's eldest son, Francis, having
predeceased hirr. in 1678, Sir Richard was suc-
ceeded in 1689 hy his grandson, Sir Francis, as
second baronet. This gentleman was of a very

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violent temper, and is said to have killed his valet
at " The Hermitage " in a fit of p:.ssion.

Sir Francis Head, 2nd baronet, married Mar-
garet, daughter and co-heir of James Smythsbye,
Esq., by whom he had a daughter who married
Rev. William Egerton, Prebendary of Canterbury,
and a son who succeeded as Sir Richard, 3rd
baronet.

Sir Richard died, unmarried, in 1721, when
the title devolved upon his brother, the Rev. Sir
Francis Head, the 4th baronet, who married, in
1726, Mary, daughter and co-heir of Sir William
Boys, and died in 1768, leaving three daughters as
his co-heirs —

Maria Wilhelmina, married to Henry Roper,
who succeeded as nth Lord Teynham, and died

1758;

Anna Gabriella, who married, first, Moses Men-
dez, of London, and, secondly. Captain the Hon.
John Roper, and died 1771 (her sons by the first
marriage assumed their mother's name of Head) ;
and

Elizabeth Campbell, married to Rev. Dr. Lill.

The baronetcy then fell into abeyance until a
descendant of John, fourth son of Sir Richard, ist
baronet, who had settled in North Carolina, hap-
pened to visit England, and overheard in the coach
from Rochester to London, as it passed *'The
Hermitage," that although the estates had fallen
to the three daughters of the Rev. Sir Francis,
there was no one to claim the title. He at once put
forward his claim, which he proved, and the title
went through him till it reached Sir Edmund
Walker Head, 8th baronet, who was Governor-
General of Canada from 1854 to 1863. At his
death — his only son, John, having been drowned in
Canada — the title of the first creation became extinct.

1 1

In the meantime the three heiresses of the Rev.
Sir Francis had all found their husbands before he
died, the eldest marrying the nth Lord Teynham
*n 1753 J vvhile the second, by name Anna Gabri-
ella, married, the same year, Moses Mendez,
grandson of Fernando Mendez, who came from
Portugal as Court Physician to Catherine of
Braganza on her marriage with Charles II. He
was a very handsome man, artistic in music and
poetry, and produced several plays which were
acted on the London stage.

The family of Mendez belonged to the exclusive
and aristocratic Sephardims who settled in Spain
during the reign of Solomon, about 1000 B.C.
These were Israelites, belonging to what are now
known as the Lost Tribes ; but they had settled in
Spain nearly 300 years before Shalmanezer, King
of Assyria, carried away the parent stock in 720
B.C. Although the latter never returned to Pales-
tine, some of them seem to have settled in Afghan-
istan, where the most numerous tribe is to-day known
as Ben-i-Israel. Others appear to have scattered to
the shores of the Black Sea, whence the Vikings of
Scandinavia claim their origin in their Sagas, and
which is also supported by the inlaid Eastern
workmanship on their arms and in their jewelry.

The Sephardims, or Sepharvaims, as the word
appears in the Bible, are referred to on the occasion
of the taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in
588 B.C., when he summoned the Jews to surrender,
asking them if the God of the Sepharvaims had
been able to deliver Samaria — i.e., the Israelites —
from his hands. The Spanish colony of the Sep-
hardims prospered with the prosperity of Spain,
and about the year 1000 B.C. we find they were the
chief administrators and leaders in science, physic,
the law, music, as well as in statesmanship and

12

finance in that country. They held themselves as
entirely separate from the French, German, Polish
and Russian Jews, and regarded usury with abhor-
rence. They lived rich and prosperously to the
benefit of Spain until about 1450, when religious
fervour (urged on by the hope of plunder) suddenly
blazed out, and a demand for their massacre, expul-
sion or conversion brought their beneficent influence
in Spain to an end, and established the power of
the Inquisition in its place. Some escaped to Por-
tugal, where their condition was not so desperate,
and many families there retained their positions.
Among them was that of Mendes da Costa, a
famous Grandee family, wiiose coat-of-arms des-
cribes by the broken bones the name of Costa — a rib
— while the royal descent from the House of David
is signified by the crest of an Eastern crown.
It was a descendant of this noble family of musi-
cians, scholars, physicians and lovers of art and
science — Moses Mendez— who married the second
daughter and co-heiress of Sir Francis Head, and
was theprogenitor of the Rt. Hon. Sir Francis Bond
Head, Bart., P.C, Governor of Upper Canada, and
his descendants.

Although Oliver Ci omweli had allowed the return
of the Jews into Enghmd, there still existed, as to-
day, a popular prejudice against them, and Anna
Gabriella Head was naturally anxious that her sons
should not suffer as a consequence of her marriage.
She accordingly obtained royal licence for the heirs
of her body to assume the name of Head. Anna
Gabriella married secondly Captain the Hon. John
Roper, son of the tenth Lord Teynham.*

*The orig-'inal surname of the aiicieiil Ki-ntish family of Roper
was iMusard, from whicli it wa.s chanifcd to Rubra SpHtha, tlien
to Rospcare, Rouspei', Rooprr, Ropore, and fiiirdly Uiiper.
Henry, tlie Pili Haii.)n Tejiiliain \\;is the fii-.st to conform to the
Established Churcli of En^i;^land, and took his seal in Parliament,
2(jih February, 1716.

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The elder son of Moses Mendez and Anna
Gabriella Head, Francis, married, 1779, Justina
Maria, co-heir of Sir Thomas Stepney, Bart., and
left one. daughter only — Frances, born 1780, who
married the Hon. and Rev. George Herbert (son
of Earl of Carnarvon), and died 1852.

Francis lived and died at St. Andrew's Hall, Nor-
folk, and was a martyr to gout.

The second son, James Roper Head, born in
1757 (Lord Teynham had married the elder sister,
Maria Wilhclmina, and the introduction of the
family name of Roper infers that he was James
Roper's godfather) was a man of lofty ideals, ex-
tremely imaginative and poetic. His dreams of
establishing a perfect brotherhood among mankind
led him into joining the association of Jacobins, an
English party of enthusiasts, who saw in the
French Revolution promise of the fulfilment of
their ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity. Fired
with ardour at what looked like the realization of
his dreams, James Roper Head crossed to Paris.
Here he disappeared, and is supposed to have
perished in the Revolution.

After his disappearance in this manner, an
attempt was made by another branch of the family
to lay claim to the estates of " The Hermitage." The
result of this was that the estates were thrown into
Chancery, and remained there for thirty years, at
the end of which time a verdict in favour of James
Roper Head's eldest son, Sir George, gave him no
alternative but to sell the property and pay the
Chancery costs, after which he was left with a
balance in his favour of about ;^8,ooo.

James Roper Head married, in 1781, Frances
Anne, daughter of George Burges, by his wife Anne
Wichnour, only daughter of James, thirteenth Lord
Somerville.

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A romantic story attaches to the marriag-e of
George Burges, which is fully set out in the "Bland
Burges Papers," of which there is a copy in Lowndes
Square, and another at Inverailort. George Burges
was a young cornet in the English army at the
battle of Cullodea in 1745, and there captured
Prince Charlie's standard from its bearer, the Duke
of Atholl, which standard is to be seen hanging in
the hall at Beauport, in Sussex, to this day.

In Edinburgh he met Anne Wichnour, Lord
Somerville's only daughter, and they became mutu-
ally attached ; but, knowing the opposition Lord
Somerville would make to such a match, they deci-
ded tobe married secretly. This was rather diflicult,
as the marriage would have to take place at night,
and Anne Wichnour slept in an inner chamber, be-
yond that of her brother, in company with the
housekeeper. However, George Burges possessed a
sporting friend, who was to be best man at the
marriage, and wi:o undertook to bring the lady out
of the house.

Accordingly, with the connivance of the butler,
he entered at dead of night, passed through the
room of the snoring brother, and found the lady
ready dressed in her bed, but too terrified to move.
He took a firm line, and said that if she did not
come at once he would make a noise which would
rouse her brother, and he would probably have to
kill him in self-defence. Whereupon the lady
yielded, and went down-stairs to the church, where
she was duly married to George Burges, and
returned to her father's home without anything
being discovered.

George Burges was shortly afterwards ordered to
Gibraltar, where he was A.D.C. to the Governor,
and remained for two years. About the end of that
time the news of their marriage became known to

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Lord Somerville, who was furious, but impotent to
undo it, and so at last became reconciled.

Anne Wichnour was christened Wichnour from
the estates granted to Sir Walter de Somerville,
who came over with William I from Normandy as
one of his knights. Some of the property re-
mained in the elder, or English, branch of the
Somerville family until this time, when the elder
branch terminated with the poet William Somer-
ville, who wrote "The Chase." He was hope-
lessly in debt, very fond of hunting, and much
given to drinking, so that the opportunity open to
Lord Somerville to obtain the reversion of the
Warwickshire estates, and those of Aston Somer-
ville in Gloucestershire was too good a one to let
pass, and was easily arranged by paying the poet
an annuity sufficient to allow him to enjoy his
pastimes in pCcice for the remainder of his life.

There were three children as issue of the mar-
riage between George Burges and Anne Wichnour
Somerville : the eldest daughter Frances Anne,
who married James Roper Head ; Maria Anne,
who died unmarried ; and James Bland Burges,
whose life is contained in the ** Bland Burges
Papers."

The latter became Under Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs, and was created a Baronet with
the post of Knight Marshal of the Royal House-
hold, with remainder to his son.

In 1798, by the death of his friend Mr. John
Lamb, he succeeded to his fortune and the estate
of Beauport in Sussex, near Battle, and assumed
the name of L?.mb, so that thereafter he was known
as Sir James Lamb.

When the estates of "The Hermitage" were
thrown into Chancery by the disappearance of
James Roper Head, Mrs. James Roper Head and

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her numerous family were left without a home or
income, but her brother, Sir James Lamb, gener-
ously received them all at Beauport, and educated
and brought up the entire family.

The eldest, George, was put into the Army, and
was in the Commissariat Department in the Penin-
sular War. He was a tall, powerful man, fond of
boxing, at which lie was proficient. He wrote several
books of travel, but he lacked imagination and liter-
ary genius, and they are somewhat dull, prosaic
reading. He lived much by rule, and used to write
steadily for two hours at a time, with an enormous
fob watch in front of him to mark off the exact
performance of his duty.

Upon the death of Sir James Lamb, his son, Sir
Charles, became entitled to the dignity of Deputy
Knight Marshal, but, being of an aesthetic turn,
did not wish to challenge to mortal combat any
who denied the right of \Villiam IV^ to reign, and
consequently selected his pugnaciouscousin George
to act for him. For the execution of this office he
was knighted, and Sir George Head was again the
challenger on the accession of Queen Victoria.
He died, unmarried, in 1855.

Tiie second son, James, entered the service of
the Honble. East India Company, and was captain
of one of the East Indiaman ships, which in those
days represented a high post of honour, and was
so lucrative that a captain's share of profit was
estimated at ;[£, 10,000 a voyage. The captain was
only allowed to hold his post for three voyages, at
the end of which time he retired with ;^30,ooo,
which in those days was regarded as a fortune.

James married, in 1821, Cecilia, daughter of
Hon. Robert Lindsay of Balcarres, and \yas on
his third and last voyage when he entered a boat
with two natives to go asb.ore in the Hooghly at

17

Calcutta, and was never seen again. Whether the
boat capsized and he was drowned, or whether he
was murdered and robbed by the natives will never
be known. He died at the age of thirty-four in
1824, leaving an only daughter, Elizabeth, who
married Sir Nathaniel Staples, Bart.

In the " Bland Burges Papers" there is a letter
from James Head to his uncle relating how a Mr.
Pigott, an officer of the " London," unfortunately
shot a Chinaman at Canton. The Chinese de-
manded his surrender to them, but Pigott could
not be found. However, it happened that a butcher
on board the *' Duke of York " cut his throat in a
fit of delirium. He was accordingly dressed in
", uniform, and a report made to the Chinese that the
delinquent had been found and secured, but had
unfortunately made away with himself. The man-
■ darins and police ofiicers duly inspected the body,
and returned ashore satisfied. James Head re-
marks that the bribing necessary to turn the poor
butcher into a fifth mate would cost the Company
nearly ;i£^5,ooo, but it was cheaper than being
detained three or four months.

It was James Head who brought home the five-
claw green-and-red dragon china, the half of which
I have in the drawing-room of Lowndes Square ;
the other half is in the possession of my nephew,
Sir Somerville Head.

As the five-claw dragon was an emblem only
used by the Emperor of China, it would have been
death to have been caught in possession of it at the
time James Head brought it home, and I do not
know how he managed to do it.

James Head was the favourite brother of my
grandfather (Sir F. B. Head), and I was named
by my grandfather after him. He specially stipu-
lated that no other name but James should be

18

given me, and in consequence of my being the
only member of my family with but a single name,
I was always referred to as " plain James."

The name of James appears for the first time in
the Head annals as James Roper Head, who dis-
appeared at the time of the French revolution.

The next was Captain James Head, of H.E.I.
Co., who also disappeared, as related, while trying
to land from his ship in the Hooghly at Calcutta. I
am the third, and apparently likely to be the last
of that name, but I have not disappeared as yet.

The third son, Hugh, was put into the Navy,
and retired with the rank of Commander ; he left
no issue.

The fourth was Francis Bond (of whom, anon).

The fifth, Henry Erskine, was originally in the
Navy, and was Midshipman on board the " Beller-
ophon " when Napoleon Buonaparte surrendered
to the English. He obtained an interesting and
graphic sketch of Buonaparte, made by a
Commissariat-General on board at the time, and
which 1 have in my possession at Inverailort.

Later, he left the Navy, and took orders in the
Church of England, becoming Rector of Honiton,
Devon. He apparently inherited the high ideals
and love of mankind that were such a marked
characteristic of his father, and so far exceeded the
orthodox teachings of the English Church as to
refuse his poor congregation the consolations of
hell, saying that he could not bear to think that his
dear people should be threatened with any such
injustice. He was, in consequence, always in
trouble with his Bishop and others, who regarded
hell as a special prerogative, and the only means of
keeping the poor in order. But they could not crush
the charity in him, so ended by unfrocking him.

He married Elizabeth Margaret, daughter of
19

Christopher Flood, banker, of Honiton, and left
an only daughter, Margaret, who married Rev. E.
Geoghegan, and died 1908, leaving no issue. The
two remaining members of James Roper Head's
family were Mary Amelia, who married General
Samuel Dalrymple,* Grenadier Guards, and died
at Dunchurch Hall, 1854, leaving no children ;
and Frances Anne, who died unmarried.

The fourth son of James Roper Head was Francis
Bond, born rst January, 1793, who, with his
brothers and sisters, was brought up at Beauport,
the beautiful seat of his uncle. Sir James Lamb.

He was put into the Royal Engineers, and at the
age of twenty-two found himself in the Army's
expeditionary force against Napoleon, after his
return from Elba. He managed to get himself put on
the staff of General Ziegen, of the Prussian cavalry,
and at the battle of Fleurus had his horse shot
under him. He was left behind in his English
uniform while the Prussian cavalry swept on.
Wounded French and Prussians alike might regard
him as an enemy, so he decided to try and reach
Quatrebras, where the English were fighting. The
easier to accomplish this, he took off his saddle
and bridle and walked to a farmhouse and demanded
a horse he saw grazing in a field. '* Ah ! but you
cannot ride him ; nobody can ride him ! " No
young Englishman can refuse such a challenge as
that, so my grandfather went up to the horse, put
the bridle and saddle on him and mounted. So
far all seemed to look well. But the horse knew

* General Samuel Dalrymple, born 1760, was second son of
Sir William Dalrymple, 3rd Bart, of Courland, son of James of
Borthwick, created a Bart, of Nova Scotia 1698 (28 April), who
was second son of James Dalrymple of Stair, who was elevated
to the Peerage 21 April, 1690, as Baron Glenluce and Stranraer
and Viscount Stair. General Samuel Dalrymple married, as his
second wife, in 1831, Mary Amelia, daughter of ^he late Jame
Roper Head, oi " The Hermitage," Kent.

20

the game, and refused to move. Whip and spur
had no effect, and finally the horse sighed and lay-
down.

After that there was no further argument, and
my grandfather set out on foot ; but night fell, and
he had to sleep in a barn with wounded and fugi-
tives of all armies.

The following day he walked to Brussels, ob-
tained a fresh horse and a change from a friend,
had his supper, and turned in dog-tired. Some
time during the night they called at his door, and
told him the English army was marching out of
Brussels, but he was quite tired enough not to
believe it, and slept on till eight o'clock, when he
got up and found it was true !

He followed on his horse the road taken by our
troops, till he met the Belgian Army, who informed
him that Napoleon had won the day, all was lost,
and that the English were beaten. " Well, you do
not seem much hurt, anyhow," said he, and rode
on, reporting himself to Wellington about three or
four o'clock.

He married next year his second cousin, Julia
Valenza, sister of Kenelm, 17th Lord Somerville,
who brought a dot of ^20,000. Her diary of their
crossing to form part of the army of occupation in
France, and of their life there during that time, is
in my possession at Inverailort, and is most inter-
esting reading.

My grandmother received the name of Valenza
on account of being born on the anniversary of the
capture of Valenza d'Alcantara, a Spanish town,
by her father, Colonel the Hon. Hugh Somerville,
brother of James, 14th Lord Somerville.

In May, 181 7, during the time of the occupation
of France by the European Powers, the eldest son
of Francis Bond Head was born at Cambrai, and

21

was christened Frank (not Francis) Somerville
Head.

His father remained in the Royal Engineers till
he reached the rank of Major, and during the time
he was stationed at Edinburgh distinguished him-
self by his skill in bringing down, without damage
to any of the surrounding property which it threat-
ened, a high wall which had been left standing
alone after a fire had destroyed the rest o{ the
buildincr.

As Captain Head he also had charge of the cere-
monies attending the visit of George IV to Edin-
burgh.

In 1825 he was invited to take charge of the
mining properties of the Rio Plata Mining Associa-
tion, and sailed with his family to Buenos Aires.
From there he rode across the Pampas to the Cor-
dilleras and Chili, in which the properties were
situated, but ended by reporting against them, and
returning home the following year.

The story of his rides across tiie Pampas is told
in his book, " Rough Notes taken on the Pampas,"
which met with a great success in England, and
earned for him the soubriquet of "Galloping-
Head."

He was only thirty-two at the time, and a light
weight, being barely 5 ft. 6 in. in height, with very
fair pink and white skin, curly hair, blue eyes, and a
perfect set of teeth which lasted him, without one
of them being so much as stopped, till the day of
his death at 82^.

I remember some years before his death he told
me that he had just come from his Quaker dentist,
who had been polishing up his teeth for him, and
the Quaker's remark was : " Friend, thy teeth will
long outlast thy body."

The distance is about 1,000 miles from Buenos

Aires to Mendoza, at the foot of the Andes, and
this was covered by him in shorter time than
the galloping post. He used to ride with a few
gauchos, and from thirty to seventy loose horses in
front, galloping the whole way, and only stopping
for a few minutes to exchange their saddles on to
fresh horses from the herd they drove before them.
During these rides he crossed the Pampas four
times. He lived on nothing but dried beef and
water, so I daresay his excellent teeth came in
handy.

On his return from South America, Captain Head,
as he then was, had to face a storm raised by those
shareholders who felt themselves aggrieved at the
loss of their money, and therefore wished to dis-
credit him and his report condemning the pro-
perties.

He successfully weathered the storm, and his
services received recognition in the award to him
by the arbitrators of ^4,800.

The success which greeted his "Rough Notes
Across the Pampas" encouraged him to venture
further upon a literary path, and he became known
as the autiior of several books, the one which pro-
bably brought him most fame being "The Bubbles
of Brunnen," published in 1834 The book was
a description of the life at a little German vilhu^e
called Schwalbach, at that time quite unknown in
I'^ngland, but where Sir Francis had gone to take
its strong tonic waters. The publication of his
book attracted so many visitors to Schwalbach tiiat
the town council erected a bust of Sir l<>ancis in
the Pump room, in recognition of the debt of
thanks due to him from the iniiabitants of vSchwal-
bach for having made their town so famous. He
was created Knight Commander of H,ano\er, and
thenceforth was known as Sir h'rancis Head.

23

He was acting as Poor Law Cocnmissioner for
Kent, where his administration was signally suc-
cessful, when he received the call to fill the difficult
post of Governor of Upper Canada.

In those days there were two Canadas— Upper
and Lower.

Lower Canada consisted almost entirely of in-
habitants of French origin, while Upper Canada
had been settled by the loyalists who had managed
to escape from the United States at the time of the
War of Independence of that country. At that time
many loyalists were massacred, others tarred and
feathered, or otherwise insulted and attacked, so
that the remainder who escaped carried a bitter
hatred of the Yankee with them to Canada.

On his arrival, Sir Francis soon realised that the
bulk of the people in Upper Canada were intensely
Conservative and loyal to the throne, in spite of the
attempt to spread a spirit of rebellion which was
being fostered by certain members of the House of
Assembly, which in the form of "Grievances" had
been forwarded to King William IV, and consti-
tuted the main difficulty of the situation.

It was feared that a rebellion would break out in
Canada, that the French oi Lower Canada would
rise, and that the United States would attempt to
cajole Canada into becoming a part of the States.
As an indication that the hand of the Yankees was
at work, a ship, the " Caroline," lay in the St. Law-
rence River at Toronto, the seat of the Government
of Upper Canada, laden with arms and ammunition
for the rebels, awaiting tiie moment when they

should rise.

The"Carolinc" flew the Stars and Stripes, and Sir

Francis protested to Washington against this in-
fringementofthetreatyof 1812, which forbade armed
vessels of the United States in the St. Lawrence.

Washington repudiated the "Caroline" as not
belonging to the Federal Government, whereupon
Sir Francis had the vessel "cut out " one night, set
fire to, and sent over Niagara Falls.

For this the Yankees of the State of New York
swore to hang him if ever he came across the St.
Lawrence. In the meantime, iu order to ensure the
safety of Lower Canada, he had sent all his troops
there to the Governor, Sir John Colborne, and
threw his entire reliance upon the loyalty of his
militia.

The rising that took place immediately after the
burning of the " Caroline" was promptly answered
by the rallying of the militia round Sir Francis, who
headed them, and after some sharp fighting com-
pletely crushed the movement.

The defeated members of the Assembly then
crossed to England, and agitated for their reforms
with both ministers and members of the Opposition.

In the absence of Sir Francis at his post in
Canada, the Government found great difficulty in
meeting all the insidious charges of his enemies,
and feared that the Ministry nnght even fall under
the attacks of the Opposition.

They accordingly suggested to Sir Francis that
he should save them by retiring, and in due course,
after all had blown over, he should receive his
reward in a peerage and a pension.

Sir Francis was not a politician, and had learned
by this time to dislike the position of Governor.
For it was brought home to him that he was not to
govern in accordance with the wishes of the people,
but in such a manner as would best keep his party
at home in office.

This position, to a man of his lofty character,
was intolerable, and he agreed gladly to retiring
The offers of future reward he treated with scorn,

^D

and said that all he wished for was to be justified in
his actions in the sight of his countrymen, and this
he claimed the right to be on liis return.

Having sent his family home, he remained only
until he could relieve himself of his office in due
order, but by this time the St. Lawrence was closed
as an exit, and the only alternative was to afford the
Yankees their opportunity of hanging him by
going to New York.

He accordingly crossed the St. Lawrence, and
set out alone on horseback to ride to Albany. Once
there, he would be beyond the region of his sworn
foes. Halting at a wayside inn, he ordered food,
and while at his meal the landlord came in and
looked at him and promptly said : " Are you Sir
Francis Head?" " Yes," replied Sir Francis, show-
ing the butts of his pistols. "Sir Francis Bond
Head?" ask«d the innkeeper, reading from a print
of him hanging over the mantelpiece. " Yes," re-
plied Sir Francis. " Ah ! " said the innkeeper, and
walked out of the room.

Presently Sir Francis heard the sound of depart
ing hoofs as the innkeeper rode away to summon
the neighbours. Sir Francis paid his bill and went
to the stables, mounted his horse, and rode quietly
on.

Presently he was aware of galloping horses
behind him, but being a light weight on a thorough-
bred horse, he kept them easily at a distance, till
their horses gradually became blown, and the pur
suit fell off.

He reached Albany without further adventure,
and returned vui New York. He told me that the
news of the pursuit reached the Duke of Welling-
ton, who remarked : " Riding after Galloping
Head, are they, to hang him? Well, then, by
God, they won't catch him?"

26

On his return, he demanded that, in justification
of his action in Canada, the despatches which had
passed between him and Lord Glenelg should be
laid before Parliament. Despatches were accord-
ingly laid on the table of the House, but the more
important ones constituting his defence were
omitted.

Sir Francis' reply to this injustice was to publish
the whole of the despatches in book form. This at
once turned the tide of public opinion in his favour,
and caused great indignation at the treatment he
had received. But it naturally estranged his Party
from him, and his public career was closed.

As a recognition of his services, he was created a
baronet in 1838, and thirty years later made a
member of the Privy Council, as a tardy acknow-
ledgment of the debt due to him.

His name still lives in veneration in Upper
Canada, and so late as 1900, when I was there, I
was entertained by men who were boys at the time
of the rebellion, and who looked back upon his
short career as Governor with an enthusiasm that
showed how deep a grip Sir Francis had obtained
on the affections of the loyal Canadians.

He retired to Oxendon, a village near Market
Harborough, where he passed his life in hunting
with the Pytchley and other packs during the
winter, and in literary pursuits, contributing articles
to the Quarterly Review, and bringing out a book
at intervals, until he thought he was getting too old
to hunt, when he moved to Croydon, and there
passed the evening of his life.

While there, at about the age of 78, he was
jumping a horse over a stile, and met with a fall
which broke a rib. He wrote to a friend describing
how it happened, and pointing out " the danger of
not hunting," for '* if I had been hunting," said he,

27

" neither I nor my horse would have been so care-
less as to come to g-rief."

He died from a chill caught riding at the age of
82^, in July, 1875. At that time his wife was lying
desperately ill, and expected to die, but recovered.
Sir Francis had prepared a double-headed tomb-
stone for the two of them, which he kept in his
stables. On each slab was engraved the name of
one of them, leaving the date of death to be filled
in. Across the double slab at the bottom of the two
inscriptions was written : *' In life and death united."
The tombstone had to be erected over Sir Francis*
grave at his death, but three years elapsed before
it could be described as recording a truthful epitaph.

Sir Francis was of a highly poetic temperament,
with a great love for nature and all that was noble
in man. He was a versatile and witty writer, with
a facile pen, and as such met with great popularity
in an age suffering from the ponderosity of its
literature.

During the time of his marriage engagement,
Miss Somerville accidentally swallowed some nitrate
of silver, which had the effect of turning her com-
plexion almost blue. She at once wrote to him and
said that, of course, under the unfortunate circum-
stances she must release him of his engagement.
To this he replied with gallantry : " My love for
you is not skin deep."

They were a devoted couple all their lives, and he
used to say of her : " If you wish to hear good
English spoken, you must listen to your grand-
mother." She had been brought up in England by
her Aunt Maria Barges, sister of Sir James Bland
Burges, who was a lady of exceptional talents and
education, and left behind her a wonderful book of
paintings of butterflies she caught, painted and
released, now in possession of my brother Francis.

28

The eldest son of Sir Francis Bond Head was
born 26 May, 181 7, at Cambrai in France, and was
christened Frank Sonierville Head.

He went to Charterhouse (then near St. Bar-
tholomew's Hospital in the City) and afterwards to
Haileybury, which was at that time the College for
young men entering the service of the Honourable
East India Company, which in those days adminis-
tered India, and was known in the East as "John
Company." Even to-day the East India Civil
Service is an attractive one, but in the days of
"John Company" it offered such rewards that a
parent would consider his son's career made if he
could obtain a nomination and pass his exami-
nation.

The life at Haileybury modelled itself on that
at the 'Varsities, with the difference that the " men "
at Haileybury were onl\' from sixteen to eighteen
years old. Among other pranks and amusements,
they had a coach which they took it in turn to
drive, and as my father said, "sometimes they
upset, and sometimes they didn't." He was sum-
moned to appear before the Dean on one occasion
for having entertained a noisy and riotous crew in
his rooms on the previous night. Asked by the
Dean to inform him how many men were in his
room, he replied that he could not exactly say ;
and when finally pressed, replied, "About two or
twenty."

On reaching eighteen my father, Frank Somer-
ville Head, passed his final exam, at Haileybury,
and shortly afterwards set sail for India, to go
round the Cape. While passing through the
Downs a gale drove the ship before it, and she
would not answer the helm, but drifted steadily
towards the Goodwin Sands until they saw its
breakers through the darkness.

29

Just then the mate realized that a rope, hanging
over the side, represented a small river anchor at
the other end, which was causing the ship to refuse
to answer her helm. He snatched an axe from
under the bulwarks, and with a single chop the
rope parted, and the ship came round and shot out
to sea in comparative safety.

My father had bought himself a pair of pistols
(which I still have) and a life-belt. The life-belt
he gave one shilling for, and it was guaranteed to
save one person— if he wanted to save two he must
pay IS. 6d. for one, the shopman told him.

My father was a frugal man, and replied that he
had no desire to save anybody but himself.

Arrayed in the life-belt, with his pistols to pro-
tect him, he was approached by an old Scotchman,
who appeared to consider the prospects the worst
possible.

*' Yes," remarked my father, ' it's a naughty
night to swim in,' as Shakespeare says."

** Young man, yer'd better be reading yer Bible
than quoting from they play-books," reproved the
old Scottie.

My father, however, continued to enjoy the wild
gale until they had driven under bare poles to
Harwich, when he went ashore and ran over to
Cambridge to be in time for a town and gown row,
which in those days was an annual event. He
allowed himself to be caught by the Proctors, who
were much disappointed when they found he was
not a member of any College.

The voyage was then resumed, and six months
later he landed in India, and shortly went to Allah-
abad, where he was well received by the Governor,
who was a friend of his father's.

He had to pass an examination in Hindustanee,
and sent his paper out to a pundit, who put the

30

English into good Hindustani, and returned it.
The English professor's comment on the translation
was that it was very good, though perhaps not
quite sufficiently idiomatic !

He constantly dined with a certain old judge,
who took a fancy to him, and always had a knife
and fork laid for him. One day he said to my
father, " When I first came out here, and for many
years, my salary was ;i£^i5o a year. One day, how-
ever, the Company notified me that my salary had
been raised to ;i^5,ooo a year ! and I was very sorry
to hear it." This probably marked the end of the
era of what was known as "shaking the pagoda
tree," and initiated the principle of purity among
officials in Indian administration.

In due course my father received a fine appoint-
ment in the Terai, where he lived principally in
tents, moving through the country and assessing
its value for taxation. He also held a court every
morning for the redress of grievances. His work
and administration during his seven years in India
were highly regarded by the authorities, and re-
ceived their marked approbation ; but when he
applied for a still higher post he was told that he
already held the highest possible for a young man
of twenty-six, and that he must grow older before
hoping for further promotion.

He accordingly applied for leave, saying he
could more comfortably grow older in England,
and went home.

There he shortly after married the eldest daughter
of Robert Garnett, of Wyreside, a lady who
brought him a handsome dowry, and whose parents
would not hear of the young couple returning to
India, so his career there, which promise;d to be a
brilliant one, was closed.

In India he used frequently to indulge in the

31

sport of pig-sticking in the early morning, and on
one occasion, on his return, he was met by a waihng
company, who cried out for justice. They brought
the body of their father to show him, saying : "Oh,
protector of the poor, they have killed him ! Jus-
tice, friend of the weak ! Our prop and support is
taken from us ! See, they have killed him ! " " Who
has killed him ? "demanded my father, regarding
thestiff drawn body with nothing on but his loin-
cloth.

"The enemy, the enemy have killed him ! Jus-
tice, oh, protector of the widow and orphan ! "

"Well," said my father, "he does seem pretty
dead, certainly," at the same time driving half an
inch of his boar spear into the body. Whereupon
a miracle happened, and the corpse jumped up
with a howl, and ran for his life.

On another occasion, a well-to-do native came to
him, saying that he wished to consult him as to the
course which he should pursue. " I have been
thinking it over, sahib, and I cannot understand
why you English, who are so few, while we are so
many, are able to rule over us, and I have come to
the conclusion that it must be on account of your
religion. Tell me, therefore, if you think I had
better not become a Christian? "

"You would gain nothing by becoming a Chris-
tian," replied my father. " You would become a
pariah among your own people, and ours would
not receive you into their arms. You wonder why
we who are so few can maintain our supremacy
over you, but it is not far to seek. We can trust
one another, and so are firmly united together,
while every man of you distrusts the other, because
none of you ever speak the truth. Believe me, that
if you would all learn to speak the truth, we should
not be able to remain in India another day."

32

The native sighed and thought for a moment
before he replied : "What you say, sahib, is very
true. No doubt we ought to speak the truth, but —
it is very difficult."

He was a very good shot, and excited the ad-
miration of the beaters, and when bird after bird
fell to his gun, he heard one say to another :
" Whatever the sahib shoots at dies," to which the
other piously added the amendment: "Whatever
the sahib shoots at is hit, but whether it dies or not
is the will of Allah." On one occasion a flock of
parrots flew over him, and he fired both barrels,
knocking over half-a-dozen. Immediately every
beater ran to pick up a bird and cut its throat with
the words: " All'il Allah," to make it clean for
eating. As none of the birds were dead, the next
sight was that of each beater howling with a parrot
fastened to his hand. That was bad enough for
the poor beaters, but it was further aggravated by
the declaration of a pious man among them that
the bird, having only four claws, was a bird of prey,
and therefore unclean.

My father said that in India, if a man wrote a
book he would take it to a learned pundit and say :
" Lo ! I have written a book. Tell me now, there-
fore, what is the meaning of it." Upon receiving
the explanation, he would take it to a still more
learned pundit and say: " Lo ! I have written a
book, and here is the interpretation thereof. Now
tell me, I beseech you, what is its hidden mean-
ing?"

My father knew Lord Macaulay in India, who
was celebrated for his wonderful power of memor-
izing. In describing a journey, Lord Macaulay
mentioned that he was delayed for two hours by a
torrent of rain, during which time he took refuge in
a Dork bungalow.

33

" How did you amuse yourself during that time?
asked my father.

"Well," said Lord Macaulay, " I read * Soyer'
Book of Cookery,' which was the only literature
there."

"What was the good of that?" said my father.
*' You don't remember any of the recipes, do you?''

" Oh, yes, indeed I do," said Lord Macaulay,
and proceeded to reel off recipe after recipe, until
my father asked him to stop and talk of something
else.

Although in those days the practice of Suttee,
or burning of the widow of the deceased husband
at his funeral, was forbidden by the English edict,
it was still practised to a great extent in certain
parts of India, and one day my father heard that a
Suttee was to take place in his district. He ac-
cordingly rode there, and took up a commanding
position. The people became angry, and sent
some of their leaders to know if he intended to
prevent it.

He replied: "No, you can burn the widow if
you like, but as it will constitute a crime of murder
under the British law, I wish to see who performs
the act, so as to have him hanged in due course."
There was no candidate offering for the gallows,
and the crowd melted away and left the woman
un-burned.

On another occasion, riding down from the hills
to Bombay, he was walking through the streets,
accompanied by his Sikh retainer, when a native
bumped into him. Instantly the Sikh had the man
by the beard, forced him on to his knees and,
with his sword drawn, turned to my father.

"Shall I kill him. Sahib?"

His life in India was not only full of good and
useful work, but was interspersed with the best of

34

sport. In addition to pig-sticking, he had excep-
tional advantages for tiger-hunting, for, as he
passed from camp to camp, word would come in
from the neighbouring Rajah that there were some
fine tigers not far away, and that he would send
his elephants for the Sahib's use the following
morning. In this manner, shooting from a howdah
on the back of the elephant, he killed some magnifi-
cent tigers, and I still have in Lowndes Square two
exceptionally fine skulls of the beasts killed by him.

His life in India, where he had power of life and
death in his district, naturally developed in him an
autocratic spirit and line of thought, which lasted
throughout his life in greater or less degree, and
was the cause of estrangement from several mem-
bers of his family.

But he was an upright and fearless English
gentleman, with a high code of honour and a lover
of truth.

Nothing could better indicate how much import-
ance he attached to this virtue than the beautiful
words he caused to be engraved on his daughter
Mary's tomb, the stone of which represents an open
Bible, and may be seen at the cemetery outside
Christchurch, Hants, and which runs as follows :

BENEATH ^:^Ui350O

THIS IMAGE OF THAT BOOK SHE TRUSTED
LIE THE REMAINS OF

MARY VALENZA HEAD,

ONLY DAUGHTER OF FRANCIS SOMERVILLE HEAD,

ESQUIRE, OF PIT PLACE, EPSOM,

WHO, WITH A MIND AND FORM RARE IN VIGOUR

AS IN BEAUTY, FELL A SUDDEN VICTIM TO

CONSUMPTION AT THE AGE OF 1 7.
BORN SEPT. 18, 1847. DIED DEC. 22, 1864.
SO YOUNG, SO KIND, ABOVE ALL SO TRUE.

35

To a straightforward man he was always kind
and considerate, but to a shuffler he showed no
mercy. In appearance he was a handsome man
with a remarkably fine set of teeth, brown wavy
hair, a fresh complexion and blue eyes, and stood
about 5 ft. 10 in., though his fine carriage made
him look taller.

He was an agreeable, witty conversationalist,
and in twice contesting seats for Parliament earned
a reputation as a good speaker.

By some he was regarded as an Atheist and very
wicked man, because he ceased going to church by
the age of fifty ; but this was by no means the
case. He had a firm belief in God, though he did
not extend his faith to the Church of England,
which bored him.

I remember one Sunday at Epsom we were being
subjected to an unusually flowery sermon by a
parson who had come specially to attend to the
wants of that wicked racing town, and my father
became more and more bored as the preacher
allowed his imagination to roam through endless
cataracts of eloquence. But when at last he began
a sentence with " The heart cannot conceive, etc.,"
my father could no longer restrain utterance, and
murmured, half aloud, " Heart conceive ! I should
think not ! It has quite enough to do to pump up
blood ! "

OnQ morning my father came down to breakfast
with more than his usual pleasant expression, and
I could see that we should presently have some-
thing good from him which he was containing with
difficulty. At last he could hold out no longer,
and said : " Last night I dreamed that the devil
came in through the window and stood at my bed-
side. ' Well,' said I looking at him, * what do you
want here?' 'I've come to fetch jko«,' said he.

-.6

* Oh ! you be damned ! ' said I. ' I am damned/
said he. * Serve you right ! ' said I ; upon which
he vanished."

He was famihar with the reUgions of the East,
and if he entered a Buddhist temple would con-
sider that it was only civil to do " Puja " to Budda.
Such broadmindedness did not meet with sympathy
in the early Victorian age, when the Jewish idea of
a Sabbath prevailed to such an extent that I can
recollect my nurse weeping at being compelled to
sew pn a necessary button before I was dragged off
to Church, and at the same time exclaiming :
" Well, the sin will not lie at viy door."

After their marriage, my father and mother
occupied 8 Gloucester Square, which had been
bought by Mr. Garnett as a town house, and here
my two eldest brothers were born ; but as the
Garnett family came to regard the house as a sort of
family hotel, at which they could put up whenever
they pleased, my parents gave it up, and after a
time took Dunchurch Hall in Warwickshire, where
most of us spent our childhood, while my father
hunted during the season six days a week, and my
mother attended to the wants of her daughter and
five sons.

This lasted for ten years, when my father bought
Pit Place, Epsom — a fine old house standing in
beautiful grounds, and formerly belonging to Lord
Lyttelton in the Regency days, when it was the
scene of many a Georgian orgie.

Lord Lyttelton 's bedroom was said to be haunted
by him— as he died suddenly in it, in exact accor-
dance with a warning contained in a dream three
nights before in London, that he would die at
twelve o'clock on that night. In order to cheer him
up, his friends put the clocks on, and persuaded him
that midnight was passed, and he went up to bed.

3/

Shortly after, the bell rang violently, and his
servant, on answering it, found him lying dead.
The hour was true midnight.

During 1864 my only sister, Mary Valenza, was
suddenly attacked by a galloping consumption, and
died just before Christmas. She was a perfectly
strong, healthy girl of seventeen, with beautiful
chestnut brown hair and hazel eyes and fresh com-
plexion—which gave promise of a very beautiful
womanhood. Some slight eruption broke out on
her, and the ignorant doctor gave her medicine
which drove the spots in, and they went straight to
her lungs, and she was dead in six months.

She was a great loss to me, as we were tremen-
dous pals, but the grief to my mother was so over-
whelming that she never got over it.

My father sold Pit Place in 1866, as my mother
could not bear being in it after her daughter's
death, and we then moved to London.

In 1875 my father sold the house, 24 Manchester
Square, and bought 9 Seymour Street. The same
year his father, the Right Hon. Sir Francis Bond
Head, Bart, K.C.H., P.C, died, and my father
succeeded to the title. Although he was christened
Frank, and had never been called by any other
name, people began to address him as Sir Francis,
and as he did not have his cards printed '\Sir
Frank," or otherwise assert his true name, he
slipped into being called and known as Sir Francis
Head, which was a pity, as Sir Frank would have
distinguished him from his father. But in those
days there were no " Sir Franks," as there are to-
day.

In 1884 he bought Newberries, at Radlett in
Hertfordshire, with its fine house and beautiful
park of 230 acres, and died there in 1887 at the age
of 70. On his deathbed I was witness to the curious

-^8

phenomenon of his dual personality in the tempo-
rary separation of body and spirit, which sometimes
occurs during the process of the freeing of the
spirit from the body.

He spoke to me of the poor fellow lying beside
him who was suffering from a pain in his heart, and
said he thought he had a hole in it.

" Do you think you could do anything to relieve
it, James ? "

I replied that perhaps if I put some vaseline in
the hole it might relieve the pain, and proceeded to
put same over his heart.

*' Ah ! " he said. " I was sure you would know
what to do — that makes him feel better already."

In those days the Church at Radlett possessed no
burial ground, and people used to be buried at
Aldenham, some miles away.

My father refused to be buried there, and in-
structed me to bury him in the park at New-
berries. This gave rise to some difficulties, as I
could not get a parson to read the burial service.
. So I performed the office myself, and then pro-
ceeded to get a grant from Sir Walter Phillimore
for ground for a cemetery, and my brother I^Vancis
and I built the wall round it, opposite Radlett
Church — setting: the whole matter settled just in
time for my mother's death, which occurred
within three months of that of my father,
when I obtained permission from the Home
Secretary to remove my father's body, and
one funeral took place for my father and mother in
the new cemetery.

My father was director of several companies
during his lifetime, beginning with the London
and North-Western Railway (where he represented
his father-in-law's large holding) and including the
Vale of Neath Railway, the Great Western of

39

Canada, the Millwall Docks, and the Odessa Water
Works.

He left me the estate of Nevvberries, and in 1888
I married Christian Helen Jane, eldest daughter
and heiress of Captain Duncan Cameron of Inver-
ailort, Black Watch, D.L for Inverness-shire—
and grand-daughter of Major-General Sir Alex-
ander Cameron of Inverailort, a distinguished
Peninsula officer, and intimate friend of the Duke
of Wellington, and who helped to raise the
Highland Company of the Rifle Brigade, and
commanded the Rifle Brigade at Waterloo.

Sir Alexander was the lineal descendant of Ewen,
XIII Chief of Lochiel, by his second wife, Margery
Mackintosh, daughter of Lachlan (" Badenoch " )
Chief of Mackintosh. Through his maternal
grandmother, Christian Cameron of Glendessary,
he was a great-grandson of the celebrated Sir Ewen
Cameron, XVII Chief of Lochiel ; and through his
great-grandmother, Margaret Cameron of Glen-
dessary, from Alan, XVI Chief of Lochiel.

Such was the fighting stock from which my wife
sprang.

Sir Alexander changed his Cameron crest for a
rifleman, and was granted a special military coat-
of-arms for his services, which permitted his des-
cendants to use a Rifle Brigade bugle and the
Peninsula and Waterloo medals as part of their
quarterings.

My wife through her grandmother. Christian
Macdonell of Barrisdale, represents a branch of the
Chiefs of Glengarry, and bears their arms with
the difference due to a cadet. My wife is about the
only living descendant of this once powerful family,
who owns an estate in the West Highlands.

In 1896 our son and daughter were born, and it
is for their information and for that of their

40

descendants, that I have compiled this short
memoir of family history, in order that, after I have
passed on, they may still have some records of my
knowledge of the generations that have gone
before them. I have purposely left blank pages,
in order that other members of the family may add
to this knowledge, or make any comments they
think fit.

J. Cameron-Head.
JiUy, igij.

41